Lotus Elise CR

Earlier this year, Lotus tempted us by unveiling the Elise CR at the Geneva Motor Show. But back then we could only pore over its updated aesthetics and imagine the pleasure we’d take from giving it a damn good thrashing.Now, however, we’ve managed to coax this lightest and purest remix of the much-loved little track star from Lotus’s loving, craftsman-like grasp for our own shakedown purposes.This refreshed, entry-level Elise boasts the latest Lotus styling, a new but controversially smaller, Toyota-sourced engine and raft of modifications that are largely conspicuous through their absence.The Elise CR (standing for Club Racer) is 0% fat, making one of the already lightest sports cars on the market 24 kgs lighter still. But does this new featherweight still provide the punch its heavier predecessors did and was all the weight whittling worth it?

In three words, yes, sort of. The naturally aspirated 1.6-litre unit that replaces the ageing 1.8-litre lump delivers broadly the same power but it needs working harder to overcome the slight torque deficit. But keeping the revs high is anything but a chore in an Elise, especially one that sounds as boomy as the CR does.Driving any Elise is always a genuinely physical experience. Remarkable through its lack of power steering, seriously meaty clutch and the sheer proximity of your butt to the tarmac -- but in the ultra stripped out Club Racer it feels all the more extreme.While the 0-100 km/h sprint-time of 6.5 seconds is some way off show-stopping for a car weighing only 825 kg, as with any Lotus, it’s the unrivalled purity of the chassis balance, grip and sublime handling that intoxicates when you take it by the scruff of the neck. And while an inevitable handful in the city streets, stretch the CR’s legs on a racetrack and it all becomes abundantly clear exactly why this car exists -- dynamic and sonic exhilaration.

The Elise’s design has only subtly evolved over its 14-year production run and so there’s no mistaking it in its third generation. Pairing down the aggressive aesthetic of the previous Elise, it now evokes the simpler, cleaner lines of the Evora whilst gaining LED daytime running lights and, exclusively for the CR, a Ferrari-esque swathe of matte black around the rear lights. Yet, as is traditionally required by every true Elise, getting in and out still requires gymnast level dexterity. Some things never change.The lightweight Club Racer is officially now the cheapest route into the Lotus ownership at $43,000 -- but it does only undercut the standard Elise by $1000 and at the expense of just about every creature comfort going. Massively compromised in the name of weight saving -- out goes the stereo, speakers, air-con, floor mats and all sound insulation… even the two seats have been replaced by colour coordinating plastic buckets, trimmed with strategically located wafer-thin pads. You do, however, still get electric windows as they mercifully carried no weight penalty. So it’s not the best place to spend sustained periods of time unless of course you’ve a niche Spartan fetish or religiously never carry more than your pockets dictate.It’ll doubtless never be your primary ride, but if practicality is a dirty word at the weekends and massively stripped-down motoring isn’t inherently abhorrent, the Elise CR has a unique capacity to thrill and leave you looking a sure-fire automotive purist.